Spring Smangus High Mountain Oolong/司馬庫斯高山烏龍

Smangus is a mountainous region deep within Hsinchu County. With mountain elevations ranging close to 2000m, the tea that is grown there is grown in a mostly pristine environment. This environment makes for the perfect conditions for producing great high mountain oolongs. In this particular tea's growing season of spring 2023, it had the fortune of encountering snowfall. The snowfall along with colder weather, had a largely positive affect on the overall quality of this tea. Made from the Qingxin varietal, this tea is deep in body and high in floral and fruity aromas. However, the major quality is of this tea is its throat feel and aftertaste. There is also very subtle and enjoyable bitterness that accompanies all the upfront aromas. But this bitterness quickly disappears and is followed by a very sweet and lingering aftertaste. They have a saying in Chinese tea drinking culture: 苦近甘來 (ku jin gan lai). This means bitterness is followed by sweetness. This is a mark of a good tea. When you are done drinking this tea you will feel this sweetness resonate in your throat and entire mouth. There is also something else that is in this tea that is not common to high mountain oolongs of this kind: a subtle milky aroma. To get this milky aroma in a high mountain oolong is very difficult. But this tea is able to put all these different qualities together. This spring, the natural habitat and the skill of the tea maker has blessed us with this very unique offering.